Initiatives Online

July/August 2000

St. Francis in Trenton achieves excellent cardiac bypass results

Despite operating on the riskiest pool of patients, St. Francis Medical Center, Trenton, N.J., had the lowest mortality rate among 14 New Jersey hospitals that performed bypass surgery in 1998, according to the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services annual cardiac bypass surgery report card. All 238 patients who had bypass surgery at St. Francis in 1998, the year the medical center began its cardiac surgery program, survived the procedure. Statewide, the mortality rate for cardiac bypass surgery was 2.6 percent. "We’re proud of the results," said Glenn Laub, MD, who is chief of cardiac surgery at St. Francis and who performed all of the bypass operations there. "This proves that with the proper commitment you can have excellent results, even when treating high-risk patients." Judy Persichilli, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis, noted that the medical center aggressively sought to provide cardiac care to underserved populations. "An important aspect of this program is that it serves the entire community," she said. "We’ve made an extra effort to reach out to populations that often don’t have access to this service."